Why is fail-safe Internet important?
In the case of events, transmissions or important applications, a failure can quickly lead to major problems. A simple restart of the router - like at home - is not enough here. That's why redundancy ensures fail-safe Internet that immediately uses another connection in the event of a failure without you noticing.
How do networks work and why are they vulnerable?
A network connects two or more computers and devices that transfer data. To do this, it uses standards such as TCP/IP, which split the data into small packets and send them to the destination. The router forwards these packets. However, technical errors, external influences or operating errors can disrupt the network. This is why precautions such as redundancy are necessary.
How does redundancy actually work?
Redundant networks use several connections at the same time or have replacement lines available that are activated immediately in the event of a failure - automatically or manually. Processes such as failover and bonding ensure that a switch to another signal takes place quickly and downtimes are barely noticeable.
Fail-safe Internet in the event sector
A restart often helps with Internet problems in the private sector. However, this is not possible for live productions. In addition to speed, reliability also plays an important role. An outage can immediately paralyze live streams or cloud services. That's why you should always have a backup solution to hand.
In this article, we explain exactly what redundancy means and the differences between the approaches.
How does redundancy ensure a fail-safe Internet?
Redundancy means that identical systems are available more than once. Normally, these additional systems are not required. However, if an error occurs, the replacement system steps in - for example in the form of several internet connections instead of just one.
You can find more information on Wikipedia.
However, the question remains as to how the switchover to the replacement system takes place: Does an employee have to intervene manually or does it happen automatically and how quickly?
Redundancy in networks
Redundancy in networks means that several connections or systems are available to guarantee operation in the event of a fault. Backup connections, failover solutions or bonding ensure that your network continues to run even in the event of a failure.
Solutions for a fail-safe Internet
A normal Internet connection alone offers no redundancy. If it fails, the signal is lost. For important applications - for example in event locations - you should therefore always have one or more backup connections, such as a second DSL connection, a satellite connection or an LTE router. We present three common methods below:
Backup
The backup solution provides a second connection that can be activated manually in an emergency. This method is easy to implement, but requires someone to notice the outage and switch over. In addition, another connection has a different IP address, which means that users have to log in to some services again.
| Duration of the interruption | New login required | Recommended product |
| Several minutes | Yes | Hotspot in a box |
Failover / Seamless failover
A failover solution automatically switches to a replacement connection in the event of a failure. Regular test packets (pings) are used to check whether the main line is still working. If the server confirms receipt, the connection is considered active.
With simple failover, the IP address changes, which can lead to problems. With seamless failover, a server ensures that the same IP address is always used, which means there are no interruptions.
Bonding
When bonding (bundling signals), all connections used are sent to a server via a VPN tunnel, where they are bundled together to form a single, strong signal. All available connections remain active and are used simultaneously.
You can find more information on bonding here.
| Duration of the interruption | New login required | Recommended product |
| 0 seconds (no noticeable failure) | No | Multi LTE Case |
The right solution for fail-safe Internet depends on your project. Some applications can tolerate brief outages, but even one second is too much for live streams.
